PENOLA and Coonawarra businesses are frustrated with slow internet under the National Broadband Network (NBN), with one business owner warning of a loss of productivity as a result.
The frustrations follow a number of businesses along the popular Coonawarra strip and Penola’s Church Street reporting intermittent internet connections and drop outs, especially with EFTPOS machines.
With consumers increasingly preferring to use debit cards instead of cash, Royal Oak Hotel owner John Rymill said the need for a reliable internet connection was a necessity for business.
“Internet connections have been a major hit or miss,” he said.
“Not many people carry cash around anymore so it becomes a real challenge when people come in, enjoy a meal and hospitality but then struggle to pay.”
“If it continues for a prolonged period, it can have a significant impact on the business because much of the business is conducted over the internet,” Mr Rymill said.
He said the unreliability of the NBN – which has also replaced most of the traditional landline phone – affected the businesses ability to communicate.
Mr Rymill said the weak connection causes difficulties with placing orders.
“Sometimes we can work around it for a short period of time whether that be hot spotting phones but when it is unreliable or drops out for a long period of time it becomes quite frustrating,” he said.
“In this day in age internet is a utility and is just as important as water or power but it feels as if it is getting less and less reliable.
“This makes it harder to run an efficient business in a regional area.”
An NBN spokesperson said a number of issues can affect the quality and stability of an connection.
“These may not be related to the network,” the spokesperson said.
“Issues such as wiring within the business are often found to be the cause of drop outs.
“In home wiring, issues are not related to the NBN access network and should be addressed by the business’ retail service provider.”
The spokespersons said businesses experiencing drop outs should ask their internet provider to lodge the issue with NBN and produce an complaint or case number.
“The business should check the case number was issues by NBN Co and not the retailer itself,” they said.
“We also encourage any business experiencing issues with their Eftpos machine to raise the issue with their retail service provider as we are confident in our network stability and ability to support Eftpos transactions in Penola.”
The intermittent connection has drawn the attention of Wattle Range Council, with elected members leading a charge for improved NBN coverage and service in the region.
Council’s move follows a series of questions by Sorby Adams Ward Councillor Dale Price, who quizzed council staff about the implications of changes to the NBN’s service to businesses.
Changes aimed at increasing download capacity for residential customers will result in even slower speeds for businesses, with all major businesses in fixed wireless areas – including wineries – likely to be impacted.
